Would you buy a robot "companion"/"girlfriend" if possible? What do you think of the idea?

[Fromdusktilldawn]

Translator

I just watched the movie "Companion" which was about a guy who got a robot girlfriend. The robot looks and acts exactly like a human being and can be controlled on how to behave. The idea of an artificial life partner has been seen in multiple movies, like Blade Runner 2049, but this one seems the most interesting. Such a partner seems like a nice idea, having a loyal love interest, butler, friend and assistant all in one etc. and I would probably not say no to buying one if it would be real. Sadly it also comes to its downsights, like shown in the movie, dudes will misuse, hack and modify their robot to assist in or commit criminal activities. The movie seems like a sequel to M3GAN, which was about a robot play buddy in child format that went berserk, but unlike M3GAN, all the turmoil happening in Companion was through people misusing robots.

So what do you think, if there would suddenly be a company selling such "synthetic partners", would you get one? Do you think such robots would be great for society or cause more trouble and more terrible criminal activity?

[SomothErgai]

Once the technology is actually there. As in robots that are so realistically human that it's difficult to tell the difference. And the price point comes down to something affordable. I think we are going to see an explosion of AI companions. I think this is inevitable. and as such I think genuine human to human relationships are going to begin declining. we're going to be able to get along with our personal robots so much better than real humans that the chore of dealing with people will seem less and less appealing.

it's not about whether this should eventually happen. it's simply that it will. so the way i see it there's not much point in resisting the inevitable. so yeah, give me all the super hot ai girlfriends you got.

[RavVid]

They are pretty much available as I have read but pricey at $175,000.

I'd see as something like other non human companions such as cats and dogs. It is quite possible to get strongly attached and I think it would be possible to get attached to an AI mind.

Whether it would be that sexually exciting I would have my doubts however beautiful the robot is. One of the big kicks in sex is someone of your gender preference wanting to have sex with you.

Nonetheless, since guys and girls seem to find the opposite sex entirely unsatisfactory in every way, I do expect it to take off big time.

[Kelley1]

@RavVid Even at $175,000 human appearing robots are not even close to being available. They have a microphone but they cannot speak as the movement of their lips and tongue, if they even have a movable tongue, does not match their words. They don't have the balance to walk well and certainly, they can't dance like any competitive dancer.

Human-like robot companions will be available when you can tell her (it) to get dressed, take her out for dinner and dancing, while introducing her to your friends and associates as your beautiful wife or girlfriend, and they believe she is a live human.

That is far more important than fucking her although I am sure that fucking her would be most enjoyable.

[RavVid]

@Kelley1 Good points I hadn't thought of. I don't think sex would be any better than with a blow up doll though. A lot off the excitement is from the interactions and it would seem to me to be a somewhat better blow up only.

I do like partner dancing - it is a real kick to move as one with a woman so that would be a big thing to me.

We do have a good imagination and I could see verbal interaction as becoming something we might get attached too fairly easy. A pet greeting you on return is pretty nice and I think it will appeal to that part of our minds. Both girls and guys.

YT Pyschacks had a good line recently. Porn is enough like sex to keep men somewhat happy. Social media is enough like love to keep women somewhat happy.

I think robots will succeed if they can be better than those two.

[Kelley1]

For the last 50 years, computers have been doubling every 3 or 4 years but we are close to the limit on transistor size so, unless we come up with a replacement for transistors, computers and therefore robots may not advance much more. Assuming computers keep advancing in thirty years, companion robots may be so human-like that they will appear to be human.

[RavVid]

@Kelley1 Quite so, the Turing test. Can I tell a real girl from a robot girl? I think in terms of verbal interaction it will take far less than 30 years. It is probably more a matter of getting enough quantity of data to train with I would think.

With transistor size it is pretty remarkable how far it has scaled down. Extreme UV is more repeatable than Deep UV, so without a change from silicon, it is possible to simply increase area which is a power 2 law and to the degree 3D can be further exploited that is a cube law. There are also chiplet approaches stacking multiple chips in package.

I just don't think we can expect the costs to decrease as they have but it doesn't mean capability won't increase. One company is putting AI functionality on a whole wafer. Obviously going to be more expensive for a whole wafer compare to a small part of a wafer.

But guys have always been willing to pay for sexual titillation.

I don't see that law being broken soon :)

[Crazzyyworld]

Good news.. by the time when the robots are acting like human, there will be no money. Everything will be free to get and robots will work. I heard it from the time traveller in the book Philadelphia experiment. He travelled the future and live there for 2 years. So there won’t be no gold diggers in the future. So you can get a regular girl friend who is not interested in your wallet any more.

[Fromdusktilldawn]

indeen good news haha

[FreyaRed]

Not for sex but for house work and cooking. I would call it rather a robot slave. Term robot comes from west Slavic robota what means work, so robots should work.

[Likes2drive]

Maybe if it was like a Cherry 2000 but I could never afford one

[pav616]

Honestly after the week I've had with my so called real girlfriend of many years and mother of my 9yr old son, yes I think I would definitely consider one. I could only dream of not having to wonder what she thinks, why she lies about dumb stuff and not dumb stuff. About a week ago I came across a reddit post of a good looking guy asking if he was photogenic. There were 2 comments, one just so happened to be my girlfriend and her comment was "I'd fuck you and your picture" My robot would be programed to ignore any male except me in any sexual manner. I'm not sure how to handle my non robot girlfriend now.

[Maybe_Maybe_not]

That case has been settled by many science-fiction authors already. We have movies, shows, novels and graphic novels warning us about this psychological and societal disaster.

More slaves?

A world where other humans seem so frightening to us that we can only bond with an obedient entity?

The wet dream child of individualism copulating with narcissism?

What a great idea !

[hahahmm]

No. I never wanted a woman who was just a mind controlled robot. Better for someone to willingly choose to follow you than someone who is just a machine like a television with zero free will... because in the first case it means you have earned her loyalty. In the second case you might as well be with a vacuum cleaner. There's no actual feeling involved.

Also, I wouldn't want a hackable machine having access to my genitals. Wouldn't want an industrial accident.

[Anonymous]

Probably no but only for 2 reasons. 1. No way in hell I could afford something like that. 2. AI and synthetic bodies are not developed enough yet to be realistic enough. As a result, whenever I look at robots or animatrons it makes me creeped out because of the uncanny valley. The look human and act human but not enough I'd constantly be afraid it would become self-aware and kill me in my sleep.

[exitseven]

I saw that movie with Joachim Phoenix and Scarlett Johannsen. Thr guy gets a digital companion and he develops feeling for it. It seemed pretty creepy but it also seemed like it would become a real thing soon.

[Crazyced]

Put aside sex. Just having a machine doing all the menial tasks I hate doing would be great. We've had appliances do things to various degrees for decades.

But on the potential human isolation side, we have to be conscious of the fact that societies that don't reproduce are doomed to be taken over by those that do. But I guess people that aren't inclined to reproduce would also be less inclined to care what happens when they're gone.

[Pet68]

No, never. With a few notable exceptions (like the laptop I'm now using to type this), I'm a real Luddite. I hate all these new gadgets that are coming out now. I don't even have a smartphone, and I've never shopped or banked online. I always use cash.

[DrPepper12]

I'd give it a shot. Doubt I could afford one anyway!

[Fromdusktilldawn]

I'm sure if a company would sell such robots, they'd cost around 200k

[Kelley1]

When the technology gets that advanced, I will buy a robot to cook, clean, and nanny my children.

[Anonymous]

I personally wouldn't. It just feels inorganic and I would just feel even lonelier in the long run while having wasted money. Nothing beats real in person interaction, and robots would not give such an interaction.

[Pohjolan]

So how much does it cost and can it clean&cook?

[Fromdusktilldawn]

the guy in the movie could only afford a rental robot, but has an own city appartment, so I guess it must be way more expensive than a good car. Household activities would be easy tasks for the robot

[Pohjolan]

@Fromdusktilldawn
If I'd had plenty of money then yes.

[Finchie40]

If it can clean and cool and do laundry , I might buy one lol

[Alwayreckles93]

I wish I could just go back to the old days.

[pav616]

I know what you mean, it would be great to go back and come up with completely new ways to screw my life up.

[xkildy]

When I think about this, I mint not be aposed to the idea. Lol

[Anonymous]

Given the poor way people are communicating and failing to form long term relationships, I feel sure there would be a strong market for an android that exhibited the best of what we all should be like to one another.
But it's a fantasy.

[AviatorTom]

If I was single, I might consider a robot girlfriend. Why not?

[SleepingHazard]

People have dated cars. I wouldn't buy a robot SO, but it's already happening, to be real.

[MannMitAntworten]

A sex bot? No. An all in one Butler, Housekeeper, chef, groundskeeper, and help tend to my vineyards and orchards … sure. Perhaps a few even during harvest time.

[Guanfei]

I would. That's the closest I'll either have to a girlfriend?

[Anonymous]

I think most people would prefer gynoid (female android), rather than a robot.

[Anonymous]

No, because she could not have children.

[Fromdusktilldawn]

Elon Musk once talked about robots with artificial wombs, maybe he is the one to create robots that can get pregnant haha

[Jeff51]

Yes but the tech is not good yet.

[LiamJHayden]

No thanks